Best of Dayton 2025: How to get involved in this year’s contest

It’s time again to pick the Best of Dayton.

The Best of Dayton contest presented by the Dayton Daily News is back celebrating the best, brightest and most important things in the area.

• CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE in this year’s contest

Here’s what you should know:

Timeline

The contest will have a nomination period, for you to submit any people or businesses you’d like, followed by a voting period after a list of finalists is selected in each category.

The number of nominations a person or business receives will heavily determine the list of finalists.

• Nominations: March 17-28

• Then, we choose the finalists

• Voting: April 21-May 16

• Winners announced: Friday, June 27

• Special section published in the Dayton Daily News: Sunday, June 29

How to nominate

• Head to the ballot page

• Choose a category you’d like to explore to expand the subcategories.

• In the subcategory where you’d like to nominate, enter your nomination in the “Add Business / Individual” field. If you see that business/person in the suggestions that appear, choose it to lock in the nomination. If not, click the “+” sign on the right once you’re done typing to nominate.

• If it’s your first time nominating, you’ll see a box asking you to verify. None of this information will be shared outside of our organization.

• Enter nominations in as many subcategories as you’d like. You’ll be allowed to nominate once per day per subcategory.

• Once you’ve inputted your nominations, you’re all set! There’s no final button to click. Just come back tomorrow to keep nominating your favorites.

How to get winners first

We’ll be releasing some information exclusively first throughout the contest in one of our newsletters. Sign up to get the winners before anyone else:

• Sign up for the Dayton Daily News Morning Briefing